


Repetition

by sweepsthepillowclean



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: AU, Not Canon Compliant, Short, Spoilers - Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 19:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6253684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweepsthepillowclean/pseuds/sweepsthepillowclean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They did not take back the falls. Dipper is gone, Stanley is lost. Mabel and Ford are trying to hang on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Repetition

Small feet hit the cold floor of the Mystery Shack for the third night in a row as Mabel ran from her nearly empty room in the attic to the vending machine that hid away her Grunkle’s secret lab. She typed in the code and made as little noise as she could, despite knowing the only other person in the house would still be awake. She did her best to breathe through her panic and made her way quickly to the elevator. He was there, at his workbench. She noticed that he looked as bad as she did, as if he hadn’t slept in days.

This had been the pattern for weeks now, with very few evenings not ending this way. She would wake in her bed, screaming, or crying, or painfully silent, and would make her way down to him. He would ask her what was wrong, and check to make sure that she wasn’t physically hurt, but she would simply shake her head and bury her face in his chest. She’d let the tears come until she fell asleep to the irregular rhythm of his shock-damaged heart.

Finally, he realized that he could no longer abide the quiet sobbing of his great niece. With his brother’s mind vacant, and his great nephew lost to the beast, she was all that Ford Pines had left to protect.

“It’s alright, Mabel. I know that you’re having nightmares,” his low voice came out mechanical and distant, sounding about as empty as he felt. He tried his best to speak softly, warmly, “you can talk to me.” 

“Do you ever have ones about Stan?” Mabel’s voice was small and rough, like a kitten that had been meowing for hours. Tiny sandpaper.

His jaw clenched, then released. “Yes.”

“Are they bad?”

His shoulders sagged and he confessed, “Yes.”

“I have really bad ones about Dipper.” The tears came heavy and she wailed into his shoulder, letting the torrent come. And though she couldn’t see it, she knew that two sweaters were getting wet.

**Author's Note:**

> This work was inspired by Biteinsane on tumblr and this piece of art: http://biteinsane.tumblr.com/post/140520695100/bonding-over-nightmares-i-was-gonna-draw-happy
> 
> I didn't intend for it to turn out so dark, but hey, it happens.


End file.
